DATE
June 12 - 16, 2011
VENUE
International Conference Centre
Arusha, Tanzania
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Contact us
General Enquires / LOC:
loc(at)atbc-scbafrica2011(dot)org
Workshops and Short courses
Workshops and short courses are a wonderful way to get yourself acquainted with a new topic, to pick up a new skill, and/or to polish your performance as a tropical biologist and conservation researcher and practitioner. Take advantage of the numerous free workshops that will be offered before, during, and after the meeting dates. You can sign up for as many workshops as you want.
Most workshops have a maximum capacity that instructors will not be able to exceed, so make sure to register early. All arrangements (i.e., registration, accommodation, equipment needed, etc) will be handled by workshop organisers. Please contact the lead instructor/organiser directly for specific workshop-related questions.
Workshops
Workshop #01A: Using Google Geo-tools to map and visualize Conservation
Dates offered: 12-16 June (during lunch time, 45 minutes)
Target audience: Conservation Pracitioners of all levels of qualifications who would like to visualize and share their work using Google Earth, Google Maps and other Google Geo-tools.
Description: There is an increasing need for conservation practioners to communicate their work with each other, authorities, policy makers, and local citizens in order to collaborate on good conservation decisions. Google Earth provides a fantastic visualization platform for many of these issues and problems and is already widely used by conservationists. Our proposed workshops will introduce and teach various ways of using Google Earth and Maps as well as some other tools to help practitioners map, visualize and share their work.
The workshop is also provided as a hands-on two-day post-meeting event (see below)
Contact: Alta De Vos, MAPA Project, alta(at)mapaproject(dot)org
For more information: visit the workshop site: https://sites.google.com/site/mapacgw
Workshop #01B: Using Google Geo-tools to map and visualize Conservation
Dates offered: 17-18 June (9am – 5pm)
Same as Workshop #01A (see above).
Workshop #02: Being an expert in international REDD+ negotiations
Date offered: 17 June
Target audience: All conference attendees who are interested in how their scientific expertise can be used to influence international REDD+ policy development. All meeting attendees are welcome to participate in the workshop, but visit the organizer's website to register and reserve your seat today: http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/forest_solutions/atbc-workshop.html
Note: The organizers would be especially interested in knowing about any potential participants who have had previous experience attending UNFCCC or other international meetings on REDD+. Potential participants with such experience should contact organisers; A small amount of funding may be available to defer travel costs to the meeting.
Description: Policy development should be informed by scientific expertise, such as that of ATBC and SCB members. Policy and forest ecology experts from the Union of Concerned Scientists will facilitate an interactive workshop on the gritty details of how international REDD+ policies are negotiated, and how you can engage in this process. The workshop will include role-playing as negotiators and learning how to read negotiating texts. With the next major meeting of the UNFCCC in Durban, South Africa in late 2011, it will be important for scientists to learn about the policies so that they can be involved leading up to and during that meeting. To learn more about the workshop, visit the link below.
Contact: Sarah Roquemore, Union of Concerned Scientists, sroquemore(at)ucsusa(dot)org
Related Link: http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/forest_solutions/atbc-workshop.html
Workshop #03: How to use biodiversity-related decision making tools
Date offered:17 June
Target audience: All the conference attendees who are interested in how to implement decision making tools related to biodiversity, and how to involve and integrate local government, conservation managers, agro- and infrastructural departments and other stakeholders in achieving the goals on the conservation and the enhancement of biodiversity.
Description: The Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH) in collaboration with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the Central African Biodiversity Information Network (CABIN*) and other national and international partners are developing an online information tool to support policy and decision making process on biodiversity and its related issues. The informatics tool will enable analysis and modelling of primary biodiversity data to support (biodiversity related) decision making activities such as land use planning, design of protected areas, risk assessment among others. The tool will allow users to perform meaningful analysis by integrating and using biodiversity data (including occurrence data, species-level data/ecosystem data) in combination with other type of data (geospatial, climatic, demographic, economic datasets).
* CABIN is an international project of the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) in Tervuren, Belgium. CABIN aims to develop a network of databanks on biodiversity, to be installed and supported in collaboration with institutions in African countries, e.g. the DRC, Rwanda and Burundi.
Contact: For GBIF, Alberto Gonzaléz Talaván, Training Officer, atalavan(at)gbif(dot)org; for TanBIF: Flora Ismail, ismailf(at)udsm.ac(dot)tz, Hulda Gideon hgideon(at)costech.or(dot)tz; for RMCA – CABIN Project Manager: Louis-Joan Lemmer, louis-joan.lemmer(at)africamuseum(dot)be; for RMCA – CABIN Database Manager Franck Theeten, franck.theeten(at)africamuseum(dot)be
franck.theeten(at)africamuseum(dot)be
Related links: www.tanbif.co.tz, www.costech.co.tz, http://botany.udsm.ac.tz/index.php, www.gbif.org, http://www.gbif.org/participation/participant-nodes/cepdec/, http://www.africamuseum.be/museum/about-us/cooperation/index_html, http://www.africamuseum.be/museum/research/collaborations/overview/cabin, http://gbif.africamuseum.be/CABINPortal/, www.africamuseum.be/research, http://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/policy/development_cooperation/index.jsp, http://www.crgbbj.org/activites_en_cours_ou_executes.html
Workshop #04: Mitigating human conflicts with cheetahs and other predators
Date offered: 17 June
Target audience: Community development officers, conservation practitioners, and agriculture extension officers in cheetah range countries.
Description: Cheetahs have declined dramatically over the past century, due to factors such as habitat fragmentation & depletion of their natural prey base resulting in conflict with humans for livestock/ farmed game. The perpetual conservation challenge with cheetahs lies in a better understanding of human behaviour & attitudes toward cheetahs; only by addressing human issues can cheetah conservation strategies be implemented across their range. This workshop aims to provide conservation practitioners with tools necessary to help mitigate cheetah- human conflicts. These approaches should prove valuable in any area where human conflict is a significant threat to the persistence of large carnivores.
Contact: Laurie Marker, Cheetah Conservation Fund, cheetah@iway.na and Aletris Neils, Conservation CATalyst, aletris_neils(at)yahoo(dot)com
Workshop #05: Plant-Water Relations: Continuous Measuring, Sap Flow and Stem Water Potential
Date offered: 17 June
Target audience: Ecophysiologists, Plant physiologists, environmental scientists, conservation managers, environmental rehabilitation officers, extension officers, environmental consultants
Description: This workshop will introduce new tools for monitoring plant water use that can be used for monitoring global climate change. Participants will be shown correct and successful use of the tools. We will explore the data generated and provide advise in how to interpreate results.
Contact: Alec Downey, ICT International Pty, alec(at)ictinternational.com(dot)au
Workshop #06: Understanding and valuing ecosystem services
Dates offered: 18-22 June
Location: Amani Nature Reserve
Target audience: Conservation scientists and researchers in the early stages of their career. It will suit Master's level students and those working in institutions responsible for managing ecosystems in Africa.
Description:The workshop will be field-based and will foster understanding of ecosystem services and their application to biodiveristy conservation among young African conservation professionals. It will place ecosystem services in the context of tropical ecosystem management and examine the linkage between ecosystem services, biodiversity and livelihoods at local, regional and international levels. Participants will learn about ecosystem services in the field and be exposed to case studies of managing ecosystems and the services they provide.
* Funding is available for African students through the Tropical Biology Association and the Cambridge Conservation Initiative Collaborative Fund. A workshop fee of USD 800 will be asked from other participants (covers accommodation, food, tuition travel to and from course site)
Contact: Rosie Trevelyan, Tropical Biology Association, tba(at)tropical-biology(dot)org
Workshop #07: Proposal Writing for Conservation Projects: Suggestions from a Donor’s Perspective
Date offered: 15 Tuesday14 June, Room 5 Naura Springs Hotel, 1530 - 1630 & 1645 - 1745
Description: Conservationists need to know how to write fundable proposals. Yet proposal writing requires different skills then conducting ecological monitoring or implementing a wildlife conservation project. Even with the best ideas, you still must convince a donor through your writing to support your project. The donor must understand how your concept will address threats to conservation targets, your planned actions, and how this will result in conservation outcomes. Thus, you must understand who your donor audience is and you must write your proposal with the reviewers in mind. Proposals need to answer questions such as: Why is this project necessary? (Statement of Purpose); What do you want to achieve in the long-term (Goals) and short-term (Objectives)?; How are you going to achieve your objectives? (Activities and Methods); Over what time period will project activities be implemented? (Timeline); and How will we know that the project is working successfully? (Monitoring and Evaluation). This workshop will give participants an opportunity to hear about proposal writing from a donor’s perspective. It will discuss how proposals should signal to donors that a project has significant conservation value, that the organization and staff are capable of implementing what is proposed, that the project will be successfully completed, that it will result in conservation outcomes, and that the concept fits well with the funding program’s goals.
Contacts: Nancy Gelman, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, nancy_gelman(at)fws(dot)gov
Website: www.fws.gov/international
NEW! Workshop #08A: Development of workplace HIV/AIDS policies
Date offered:Tuesday 14 June, Room 3 Naura Springs Hotel, 1530 - 1630
Description:HIV/AIDS workplace policies are tools to be used by manager, supervisors and employees in confronting this disease in the workplace. They set a foundation for HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention and care programs, provide a framework for practices within the organization, establish standards of behavior expected of all employees, inform employees of what assistance is available through work and ensure confidentiality. Such policies guide supervisors and managers on how to manage HIV/AIDS issues and they can help mainstream HIV/AIDS into livelihoods and natural resources conservation activities, taking away some of its social stigma.
This workshop will assist participants in understanding the components of an effective HIV/AIDS workplace policy, including how to include various staff in developing the policy, from organizational leaders to entry-level staff; essential strategies for educating all staff about resources available to them; and helpful linkages to providers of health care tools and family planning materials. Steven Kiruswa of the African Wildlife Foundation would lead the workshop, drawing on AWF’s experiences in developing their workplace HIV/AIDS policy and what they have learned since its initial development.
Workshop leader: Steven Kiruswa, African Wildlife Foundation
NEW! Workshop #08B: Investigating the Linkages between HIV/AIDS and Environmental Impacts
Date offered:Tuesday 14 June, Room 3 Naura Springs Hotel, 1645 - 1745
Description:At a 2010 collaborators meeting convened by University of Washington, IUCN-ESARO, University of Nairobi the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the East African Wildlife Society, participants developed a matrix to identify priorities for next steps in carrying out an HIV/AIDS and Environment Program strategy. Research topics included a comparison of prevalence and interactions between HIV/AIDS and environment across a variety of conservation areas; identifying relationships between environmental condition and HIV/AIDS prevalence at the district level; investigating the impact of HIV/AIDS on the environment and how natural resources were being utilized as coping strategy for AIDS affected households; investigating human migration and natural resource use; understanding the impacts of policies on HIV/AIDS-environment interactions and ways forward; and tracking funding streams in conservation, climate change and HIV/AIDS areas to understand if funds are shifting among these areas.
This workshop will be a continuation of that conversation, to expand and further develop the network of conservation and health professionals working on these issues, identify practical options for synergy between health and environment and to share experience in integrating HIV/AIDS and Environment in the field in order to bring key lessons into policy dialogue from local, national and regional level.
Workshop leader: Guyo Roba, IUCN
Short courses
Course # 01A - E: Bioinformatics for Ecologists
Dates offered:
Course#01A: | 6 - 8 June | |
Course#01B: | 9 - 11 June | |
Course#01C: | 9 - 11 June | |
Course#01D: | 17 - 19 June | |
Course#01E: | 20 - 24 June |
Target audience: Research assistants, junior and senior ecologists, other field researchers.
Course description: There are a number of bioinformatics and survey skills in high demand from research projects and from individual researchers and assistants in Tanzania and other countries in the region - GIS and cartography, statistics, aerial wildlife survey design, and Distance sampling and analysis. This set of short courses aims to provide participants with hands-on training with a focus on free and open-source software.
Cost: Distance courses $150 each ($300 for both intro + analysis); QGIS $100 ($30 for students); R intro $100 ($30 for students).
* Scholarship and student places may be available
Click here for more detailed description of the course.
Contact and Registration: ArushaSkillsConference(at)gmail(dot)com and see the website with course information at www.TZCRC.org/skills
Course # 02: Building Capacity in Taxonomy for Effective Management of Biodiversity
Dates offered: 7 – 11 June CANCELLED
Target audience: Managers of protected areas, junior tutors in higher learning institutions teaching or potential for teaching systematics/taxonomy with BSc or MSc), animal and plant ecologists and reseachers in fields related to biodiversity conservation.
Course description: Taxonomy is the science that finds, describes, identifies, classifies and names organisms including theories, rules, principles and procedures that governs these processes. It is an important tool as far as biodiversity conservation is concerned since you can only conserve what you know. Globally human activities are causing loss of biodiversity at an alarming rate, to reverse the trend biodiversity conservation managers and decision makers need to know what is being lost too.
Taxonomy provides tools required to understand species diversity (one of the components of an ecosystem) which is the basis for biodiversity conservation decision making. Taxonomy is also important for identifying undesirable species such as invasive species.
Cost: The course cost is 400 USD per person. This amount covers course material, refreshments, lunch and a one day field work. Participants are expected to pay for their tickets and accomoldation.
Daily programme: The course is designed such that morning hours wil be used for two lectures each 1 hour long followed by discussions or question and answer sessions and afternoons will be used for practicals/ hand on actvities and consultations.
Contact: Amelia Buriyo, Botany Department University of Dar Es Salaam, buriyo(at)udsm.ac(dot)tz
